This invention relates to a parking mechanism in an automotive automatic transmission.
Automotive automatic transmissions comprise a parking mechanism to positively lock the output shaft of the transmission to the transmission case when park position is selected. A parking mechanism includes a park gear formed on a member mounted on the output shaft, a spring-supported parking pawl which can mesh with the park gear, a cam mounted on an actuator rod to change the position of the parking pawl and an actuator support which is fixed to the inside of the transmission case to slidably support the actuator rod. In conventional parking mechanisms, the actuator support is either a member formed by forging and finished by machining or a member produced by sintering of an alloy powder. Naturally the production of the actuator support entails a considerable cost. For attachment of the actuator support to the transmission case, there is the need of machining the inside of the transmission case which is usually produced by casting. Besides, the installation of the actuator support to the transmission case requires a troublesome and time-consuming work utilizing fastening means such as bolts.